Tag: champs

Thursday the 18th August saw the Club departing from their various homes and making their way to the British Championships, held at Catton Hall in Birmingham. After a rocky start we all gathered and made camp in field B, ready for racing throughout the weekend.

First up were Cannons who were seeded 1st in Division 32. Racing went really well for this team, we had an interference with one of our more timid dogs, we didn’t let it beat us though, we gave her a run on her own and she completed with no glitches. Cannons didn’t quite manage to hit their seed time, but they did finish in 3rd place bringing home a lovely rosette. This was a definite celebration for Merlyn (handler Mark Peck) who retired at his last British Championships.

Crusaders also competed on Friday, they were seeded 3rd in Division 36 and all the dogs performed as we expected. Helen’s starts with Oscar (O’ Scary) were awesome, I do believe we had a couple of rolling starts!! Crusaders only just missed out on maintaining their seeded place and came home with a brilliant 4th place. Again we saw another celebration for Gypsy (handler Ellen Schofield) who retired at her last British Championships.

Crossbows were first up to compete. Racing started well, but ended up with Charly H (handler Tina Hatcher) one of the 10” height dogs going lame. Jazz (handler Nicole Webster) our second 10” height dog stood up to the mark and Crossbows made a wonderful recovery, winning 3 out of their 5 races throughout the day, bringing them home a respectable 3rd place. I cannot leave this team to move onto the next one, without giving a special recommendation to Charlie P (handler Mark Peck) who competed in his first British Championships, after being in starters for 5 years. We have been working really hard with Charlie P in training and other open competitions, building up his confidence in the ring. I do believe all the hard work paid off. Well done Charlie P.

Catapults competed in the fourth division of the day, racing went really well and all the dogs performed as we expected. Bryn (handler Pamela Parish) had his first British Championships this year running in multiple positions, although he still needs help in training on his ‘lane hogging’!! Catapults matched their Seeding and came home with 5th place of their division.

Last but not least, saw Canines competing on Sunday, seeded 5th in Division 6. Bailey Oscar Ice and Tally really gelled within their team and had some close races, they managed to climb up their division coming home with a fantastic 3rd place. Millie (handler Tina Hatcher) one of our baby dogs joined this team for a bit of ring experience. Millie proved she was not phased by the size of the British Championships, she did 3 wonderful run backs although her handler was in the wrong place on the first two!! On her last encounter in the ring, she was given the opportunity in the warm up to practice her box turns and managed to do 3 awesome turns before she did her final run back. She would like to thank her team mates for this opportunity and was a very enthusiastic member of the team at the back of the ring.

Canines 17.56s Division 6/Seed 5 3rd (FT = 17.89)

Catapults 18.79s Division 16/Seed 5 5th (FT = 19.35)

Crossbows 20.48s Division 31/Seed 1 3rd (FT = 21.23)

Canons 20.58s Division 32/Seed 1 3rd (FT = 20.98)

Crusaders 21.19s Division 36/Seed 3 4th (FT = 21.71)

Unfortunately this year we did not come home with any divisional wins,but we all enjoyed the camaraderie within the club and had lots of celebrations, as our dogs competed so well. We ended the weekend with a Hatcher special barbeque, we would like to thank Julia and Chris for taking the time on Sunday to go out shopping, cooking and putting on a wonderful spread.